Society of anesthesia and sleep medicine: proceedings of 2012 annual meeting.

INTRODUCTION: We present the proceedings of the second annual meeting of the Society of Anesthesia and Sleep Medicine. The theme of the meeting was "Anesthesia and Sleep Medicine: What Every Health Professional Needs to Know." DISCUSSION: While upper airway obstruction during sleep and anesthesia received concentrated attention, with particular regard to perioperative assessment and managment of obstuctive sleep apnea, a diversity of issues were raised including: the genetic basis for variations in ventilatory control; shared charactertics of sleep and anesthesia; hazards posed by narcotic use in patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA); the respiratory complication that follow surgery in such patients; who amongst them is suitable for ambulatory surgery; and the special circumstances that apply to anesthesia for children with OSA. How principles based on these considerations have been applied to protocol development at two major centers was presented towards the end of the meeting. The proceedings highlight issues discussed by each of the invited speakers but do not include the research abstracts discussed during the poster session.